Ku Klux Klan Accuses Georgia of Playing the ‘Race Card’

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After weeks of deliberating about how to respond to a KKK chapter’s application to participate in the Adopt-a-Highway program, Georgia’s Department of Transportation announced last night that it had chosen “Lengthy Legal Battle” from its menu of unsavoryoptions:

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A Ku Klux Klan chapter’s request to “adopt” a stretch of road in Georgia was rejected by state authorities on Tuesday, setting up a possible court fight over the right of the white supremacist group to participate in the highway clean-upprogram…

“The impact of erecting a road sign naming an organization which has a long rooted history of civil disturbance would cause a significant public concern,” the Georgia Department of Transportation wrote the Klan chapter. “Impacts include safety of the travelling public, potential social unrest, driver distraction or interference with the flow oftraffic.”

If the KKK decides to sue — and why wouldn’t it, since publicity is presumably its primary goal here — previous legal disputes in other states indicate that it would have a good chance to win the coveted right to clean trash on the side of the road. Until then, April Chambers, the chapter’s secretary, is just going to stew:

“I don’t see why we can’t (adopt the stretch of highway),” she said. “Would it be any different if it was the Black Panthers or something? Someone always has some kind of racecard.”